“Hiya, guys, gals and non-binary pals! It’s me! Gaia! I’m back! And despite being this energetic this is actually a chill-stream, hahah.”

I started up my “Back from Hiatus Chill Stream” and was immediately overwhelmed by the viewer count. It was much higher than usual! Guess people didn’t let go of that last stream ...

[Hiya!]

[Hope you had a nice vacay :)]

[WE DEMAND ANSWERS]

“Gulp. So for today’s stream I decided to just play some Cinemraft. I don’t have too much time on my hands and that way I can just catch up with you guys!”

[You catching up with us? I think it needs to be the other way around]

[What’s with the high viewer count lmao]

[And the subs!]

“Wow, my subs are exploding! There’s just sub after sub! I’m sorry, I can’t thank each of you individually, there’s just too much going on at once.”

Honestly I was kind of overwhelmed. So many new people, so many fans demanding answers ... I needed to chill a bit.

“Ummmm, I’m just gonna start playing alright? And wait for the storm to calm ...”

[Omg, Gaia is speechless!]

[That about never happens ...]

[Disappointing, unsub]

“Ah! Well if that’s the case! Nevermind! I can just answer your questions right away!”

“Someone’s already asked in the chat, anyway, how was your week? What did you do during hiatus?”

A donation came in, a blessing in disguise. They were probably hoping for some juicy details, but I was just going to tell them the boring truth.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Ahhh, well I was just visiting my family. You know, boring stuff. Can’t stream with my family around of course. Though that sounds like a nice manga premise lol.”

[Ahh, takes me back to my old let’s play days, when I was 15 and trying to record without anyone hearing my parents fighting in the background <3]

[There actually is this manga about a V-Tuber Dad!]

[Back to the LPer guy: are you okay, dude?]

“Firstly, I need to look up that manga, secondly, yeah, are you okay dude?”

Thankfully the chat provided me with a means of stalling a bit.

“Anyway, I noticed my subscriber count has gone above 1k this past week!” I announced in a celebratory voice and had my avatar flex her muscles.

[The flex is back!]

[Yes baby]

[Huh, wonder why that is!]

Oops, I almost shot myself in the knee with that comment. Well whatever.

“Why I am mentioning this is, because all the way back, when I was just a wee little streamer, my dear friend Big-Tuber-San mentioned the LolHive contest, where you could win a chance at signing a contract with them if you entered, provided you met certain criteria. And one of those criteria was to reach 1000 subs! Yaaaaay.”

The chat filled with congrats and clapping emotes. Despite this ... I didn’t feel exactly happy.

“I’m sorry I didn’t prepare any specific sub goal or anything, it all just happened way too fast haha.”

Why did I decide to enter this contest anyways? The money I guess? Earning money, doing something you love?

[So it was all a calculated marketing move, to get you to 1k quicker?]

[Ouch, don’t say that.]

Honestly I wasn’t so sure of this whole thing anymore. I don’t feel myself under pressure. I’m not bound to the stupid YouTube algorithm. I just play games and bullshit around a bit and I’m having fun.

I made some friends.

“Actually ...” I said. Something in me wanted to talk earnestly to my viewers for once. Whatever that meant. What are my viewers to me anyway? Just a bunch of usernames. Do I owe them anything? Can I just have them gradually forget the weird slip up earlier? How will that impact my viewership though?

Crap, I think I’ve gotten into it a bit too much.

Was there still any way to back out?

My viewers weren’t sure whether everything that happened on stream was for real, or if it was just V-Tuber storytelling. So what if I just told them, I was about to go on a date?

I guess it would certainly generate some more clout.

“Actually, you guys, I can’t stay online for much longer. I have a date later on, heehee.”

[DATE]

[OMFG]

[Who is it!]

[Val vs. Crush, vote now!]

“All will be revealed in time! Maybe. You need to leave me a bit of privacy in that regard. For now, let me return to base, I don’t wanna lose all my diamonds lol.”

I ended up stirring up more drama, instead of calming the shitstorm. Well, sometimes it just be like that.